The manufacture of floor and wall coverings has changed and matured over the years. Historically, once a building, home, or room is constructed some type of floor or wall covering is adhered to the surface of the floors or walls. The adhering process may involve glue, nails, or another method of affixing the floor or wall coverings to the structure of the building, home, or room. The materials and their textures that are used in floor and wall coverings have also changed over the years. Primarily, the advancements in material science, consumer tastes, and the desires and needs of the owners or occupants of the structure influence the selection of floor and wall coverings. Some of the manufactured floor and wall coverings have been produced to resemble brick, tiles, and other aesthetically pleasing surfaces. Generally, floor and wall coverings are manufactured in large sheets or pre-mixed as liquids to be poured at the job site. The surface texture of the sheets or poured liquid is then finished as desired.
Typically, when floor and wall coverings are manufactured as large sheets, the manufacture does not provide reinforcements to support the weight of the large sheets. The weight of the sheet versus the overall size of the sheet causes the manufacturer to limit the overall size of the sheet to a proportion that will support the weight without additional reinforcements. This phenomenon also limits the texture and the possibly of producing aesthetically pleasing surfaces. The floor and wall covering sheets must be reduced in size or they must be reinforced by structural means. If the sheets are reduced in size the economies of scale suffer.
Generally, if floor coverings are premixed as a liquid and poured at the job site a substantial amount of curing time is required. The curing time results in the job site being closed during this period. If the job site is not closed, damage may occur to the freshly poured floor causing re-pouring or refinishing of the floor. Pouring floor coverings is time consuming and costly with marginal results.
If a premixed liquid is used to apply a wall covering, the consistency of the mix must be thinned in order to spray or otherwise apply it to a wall structure. This process limits the texture, composition, and availability of materials that can be used in wall coverings. If the surface of the wall covering is textured or has additional material added to it the weight and reinforcement problems limit the type of materials that can be adhered to the wall covering.
In the past attempts been made to overcome the problems associated with manufacturing a variety of floor and wall coverings that may, if desired, be readily adhered to any surface. One such attempt used artificial stone that was hollow in the center to reduce the overall weight of the material. If the center portion of the material is hollow, a backing plate of some type must be installed to the back portion of the material to allow the attachment to a structural surface. Another attempt involved using mortar and a variety of color pigments. Again, the weight problem and limitation of materials prevented this attempt from functioning as desired.
It would be desirable to have a product that is suitable for both floors and walls. The product would be of such a weight and size it could be easily adhered to a wall surface. The product would not require pouring at the job site or an extended curing time. The process of producing the product would allow it to be produced in large quantities from a variety of materials.
The first embodiment of the present invention is a manufacturing process for floor and wall coverings. The process blends a two part epoxy and aggregate material into a mold that once cured, produces a relatively light weight, reinforced, adhereable floor and wall covering. The mold may, if desired, be any selected geometric shape. The selected geometric shape may, if desired, be repeated throughout the mold i.e., a single mold may contain a plurality of the same or different geometric shapes or cavities.
The process begins by blending a selected volume of aggregate material and a selected volume of mixed two part epoxy. A selected first volume of the blended mixture is poured into the mold. A pre-sized first interlocking screening material is placed over each geometrically shaped section of the mold. The mold and its contents are semi-cured for a selected time period. During the semi-curing the mold may, if desired, be vibrated to fill any voids that may have occurred in the pouring of the first blended mixture. A second selected volume of the blended mixture is poured over the first interlocking screening material. A second pre-sized interlocking screening material is positioned over each geometrically shaped section of the mold. The second interlocking screening material is embedded into the second poured volume of blended mixture. The mold may, if desired, be vibrated to fill any voids that may occur in the pouring of the second blended mixture. A layer of adhering material is embedded into each exposed geometric shape of the mold. The mold and its contents are now cured for a selected time period according to the epoxy manufacturer recommendations. After curing, the individual geometric shapes are removed from the mold and are ready to be attached to any surface.
The second embodiment of the present invention is a product produced from the above process. The product is a selected geometric shape with a bottom surface that is readily adhereable to any surface. The geometric shape is reinforced with two layers of interlocking screening material disposed at selected intervals throughout the epoxy. The top surface of the geometric shape may, if desired, be finished with matte, clear, or colored finishes. If desired a thin coat of the same or different epoxy used in the molding process may be applied to the top surface. The top surface may now be polished to the desired sheen.
When taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims, other features and advantages of the present invention become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention.